Pregnancy shock for 200 girls in grades 3 to 5

ALMOST 200 girls between Grade 3 and Grade 5 fell pregnant from 2014 to 2016, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has revealed.

Most of them came from KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

Motshekga said the number of girls falling pregnant increased with each grade. And in some provinces, around 170 girls fell pregnant in Grade 7.

A shocked DA member of the portfolio committee on basic education, Sonja Boshoff, said: “No one in Grade 3, 4 or 5 should be having a child. She herself is a child…

“There is a concern if these children fell pregnant within the confines of the school, because a teacher could be involved. The Department of Basic Education cannot allow sexual harassment or abuse to take place in schools.”

Boshoff said the department had to come up with a policy which would help eradicate this phenomenon, admitting, however, that it would be difficult to stop any form of sexual interaction among children.

The department needed to work with stakeholders and other departments to close in on this looming crises, she said.

Motshekga, speaking of the problem in Parliament, could not say how many of the pregnant pupils were able to return to school after giving birth.

“That is unacceptable. These children are falling through the cracks,” Boshoff said.

“This information should shock every South African. Young girls, mostly under the legal age of 16 are having their futures undermined, probably through being taken advantage of or abused.”

Basic Education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga suggested that girls in these grades falling pregnant was a reflection of what was happening in the greater society.

“We allow adults to molest children, and they get away with it because we don’t report them,” Mhlanga said.

“It’s a challenge for the entire society. They are children before they are learners, which means everyone must be outraged.”

He said the perpetrators came in different shapes, sizes and ages, and they could not rule out the possibilities of educators impregnating the girls.

“We need to come down hard on all of them, irrespective of who or what they are. If we target one group then we let the others off the hook.”

He called on society to take a stand to stop these pregnancies. “Traditional leaders, religious leaders, parents, the police, community organisations, youth formations… We all need

Most of them from KZN and Mpumalanga

to march and raise awareness about this problem.

“If we don’t do that then the perpetrators will continue to destroy the lives of the kids. There’s no law that will stop this if we don’t back it up with serious action,” Mhlanga said.

Ann Skelton, director of the Centre for Child Law, noted that a child below the age of 12 was considered by law to be completely unable to consent to sex, and an older person could not use consent as a defence if charged.

Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi has previously called for integrated contraception on school grounds. He also brought teenage-friendly contraceptives into public clinics, saying parents and society had to accept the sexual activities of their children if the problem was to be curbed.